Windermere and the Web

As we all know, the Web has changed the way people search for homes. Statistics clearly show that more and more people are researching properties online than ever before. Successful real estate companies are committed to finding ways of making it faster and easier for consumers to conduct their research and to collaborate with their chosen Real Estate professional.

Today, Windermere.com receives the most traffic of any real estate brokerage site in the West, with about 3.5 million total visits a month. At the touch of a button, consumers can view more than 400,000 homes in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Washington and British Columbia. Windermere.com includes homes listed by Windermere as well as all other real estate companies. These listings are updated as often as every 30 minutes, so consumers can get up-to-the-minute access to every home available.Windermere strives to make the process of buying and selling a home a great experience. Part of that means creating innovative online tools that help people get the information they want.

Here’s a quick look at what you can find on Windermere.com, and how they're working to make life easier for Buyers and Sellers.

PropertyPoint™Now featuring Google Maps™

Take a “virtual drive” to the perfect listing! Windermere’s PropertyPoint™ map search is the easiest way to find the largest number of listings available. PropertyPoint is an interactive map search that allows buyers to pinpoint a particular location, then get detailed information about homes for sale in that area. The newest version of PropertyPoint makes searching even simpler, with Google Maps™, the world’s most popular mapping software. Just click and zoom your way to instant results. You can search by city, state, zip code, price or amenities, such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Plus, you can now access property details, from photos to listing details, all on one screen. Windermere’s PropertyPoint map shows you homes for sale from every real estate company, not just Windermere, so you can count on getting the most complete listings available anywhere.

Photo Gallery More photos + bigger photos = listings that get noticed!

Photos are the most important thing to buyers who are searching for a home online, and the more photos, the better. Windermere’s Photo Gallery offers multiple interior and exterior images, allowing buyers to visualize the home before deciding to spend valuable time visiting in person. With Photo Gallery, you can check out the gourmet kitchen, the master bedroom and the backyard with the click of a button. And the newest version of Photo Gallery now offers super-size images that are nearly four times larger than before. If you’re selling a home, the Windermere Photo Gallery offers a distinct advantage. With multiple high-quality photos in the largest format available, your home will stand out from the crowd.

MyWindermere: Newest listings e-mailed to you daily!

Searching for homes on Windermere.com is one of the best ways to obtain property information. But did you know you can make this process even easier and faster, and personalize it to your needs? MyWindermere is an online tool that allows you to save home searches, keep your favorites and get new listings e-mailed to you daily or weekly. You can create multiple custom-saved searches—no more filling out the search form every time you’d like to see if new homes are on the market. Plus, you can receive automatic e-mail notification when new listings come on the market that meet your criteria. You can save your favorite listings so you can refer to them later or share them with a friend. MyWindermere also includes a useful client-agent collaboration feature that allows you to associate your account to your Windermere agent, so they can learn your tastes and requirements for your next home.Want the listings sent to your phone or wireless device? Windermere.com now features RSS feeds that let you pull the latest listings no matter where you are! MyWindermere makes searching for the perfect home fast and easy.To give MyWindermere a try, go to Windermere.com and click on “MyWindermere.” Follow the instructions for creating a new account, and start getting personalized listings today!

Google™ and Windermere Real Estate Working Together = More online exposure

Windermere and Google™ are collaborating to increase exposure for Windermere listings. When you list your home with Windermere, they provide information about your property to Google’s database, where your home is exposed to Google’s millions of users—many of whom specifically search for real estate.Windermere and Google share a commitment to delivering the most relevant and complete information available to consumers. This commitment offers clients the best opportunity to maximize the growing potential of the real estate online space.

Rich Jacobson, Your Windermere Real Estate Agent for Kitsap County

"Raindrops keep falling on My Head" - Life on the Kitsap Peninsula

Okay, so we get a bad rap for the amount of annual rainfall we get here in the Pacific Northwest. I guess you could say that our ActiveRain is pretty darn active! (Well, why do you think it's so green around here, huh?)

However, while we do experience a rather significant amount of precipitation compared to other parts of the country, it's usually only wet here during the rainy season - November 1st through October 31st.

Seriously though, we're getting hammered today. One weatherman stated this morning that we will get more rain just today than New York will get all month long. (YIKES! Where's that timeshare in Cabo when you need it?)

A forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Seattle says a once-in-ten years storm is hitting Western Washington. The storm that began yesterday afternoon will leave two-to-six inches of rain (Then why is my dang water bill so stinkin' high?)

Yesterday's storm, the third to hit Washington in recent days, was driven by the "Pineapple Express," a flow of warm, moist air from the subtropics. Nearly 3 inches of rain have fallen in Seattle since Thursday, the Weather Service said. (Why couldn't they send us some sun instead?)

After having one of the driest summers on record, we're trying to make up for it all in one week! According to another report, in the western Washington lowlands we're expecting 2-6" of rain; upwards of 5-10" in the Cascades; and perhaps over 9-10" in the Olympics (of course, wouldn't you know it, Silverdale is by the Olympics!)

Just for perspective, we usually get about 6" for the entire month of November, and most of Seattle's Top 10 wettest days ever are around 3". (The record being 5.02" set in October of 2003.)

So I guess our bad rap is deserved, at least for today anyway. Maybe I should call the local Ford dealer and see if they make pontoons for my Expedition? If you've ever wondered why we have so much waterfront real estate here in Washington State, now you know!

Rich Jacobson, Your Rain-Soaked Real Estate Agent in Kitsap County WA

Adventures in 1st Time Home Buying: "Do I Need Money to Buy a House?"

Welcome once again to Real Estate in Kitsap County. My name is Rich Jacobson, a licensed professional real estate agent in Silverdale, out on the Kitsap Peninsula in scenic Washington State.

This is the fifth installment in an on-going series of posts dedicated to helping 1st Time Home Buyers successfully achieve their purchasing goals. We have been identifying and discussing, in chronological order, key events in the home buying process.

In our last discussion, we talked about the importance of committing to your real estate agent and entering into a Buyer Agency Agreement. This time I want to take a moment and discuss,
"What does it cost to buy My First Home?"

One of the questions I am commonly asked by 1st Time Buyers is, "What "out-of-pocket" expenses do I need to plan for when buying a home? That's a really great question. There are many loan programs out there today that require very little, if any, outlay of cash. But there are a couple of instances in the home-buying process where you will need to have some amount of "hard cash" available to succeed in your purchasing goals.

Depending on what kind of loan product you are using to purchase your house, you may need to bring in money at closing to cover some of your loan expenses. In some cases, you may be able to negotiate with the Sellers for them to pay a portion of your closing costs. As we discussed in Part One, your Mortgage Specialist is the one who is best equipped to provide you and your real estate agent with what your estimated closing costs will be, and then together, you can develop a successful purchasing strategy based on that information.

Aside from that, there are typically two additional expenses in a real estate transaction that you will need to pay for "out-of-pocket" prior to closing - your earnest money and the home inspection.

EARNEST MONEY

Earnest money accomplishes a number of things:

1) It conveys the seriousness of your intention to purchase the property.
2) In some instances, it can help to demonstrate your financial ability to satisfy the contract and strengthen your position as a solid, qualified buyer.
3) It provides remedial damages for the Seller in the event that you breach the contract (backing out of the contract for a reason not stipulated in the contract)

The actual amount of earnest money will vary with each particular market. In many instances, it will represent between 1 to 2 percent of your offer price. If you are involved in a competing, multiple bid situation, an increased amount of earnest money may make the difference in you being the successful bidder. If your offer is accepted, your earnest money will be deposited into a trust account or with the escrow company, shortly after acceptance. At closing, this money is then applied to your closing costs, or, if your closing costs have been covered, it is refunded to you. What I find helpful is to explain to my Buyers that Earnest Money is money you would normally be spending anyway, and is applied to your closing costs.

HOME INSPECTION

Some of the best and wisest money you can spend in a home purchase process is for the home inspection. Cut corners anywhere else you want, but not when it comes to your home inspection. A good, knowledgeable home inspector is worth every cent you pay them. You may have a relative or friend that has construction experience, but you owe it to yourself to use the services of an experienced, certified professional.

Inspection requirements may vary from state-to-state, but most involve a complete inspection and assessment of all structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems/components. In some states, a full pest inspection is included as part of the home inspection, or is conducted and paid for separately. Additional inspections may be required, depending on the property, such as septic or well. Sometimes these additional inspections are required by contract to be paid for by the Sellers or can be negotiated into the contract.

A thorough home inspection will cost approximately $300 to $400 and will take at least 2 hours to complete, depending on the size of the home. Ask your real estate agent to provide you with a list of local inspectors. Call each one and interview them. Ask them about their level of experience, the inspection fees they charge, what those fees cover, and what kind of documented report they provide at the conclusion of their inspection. Then you will be better equipped to make an intelligent, informed choice of which inspector will work for you.

The more informed you are, the better you will be positioned to successfully achieve Your 1st Time Home Buying Adventure!

Rich Jacobson, Your Kitsap County Real Estate Agent

"The Price is Right!" (or is it?)

Early on in my real estate career, I used to get really upset whenever a competing agent would get the listing by simply agreeing to market the home at whatever price the Sellers demanded. I figured that any schmuck could pull their real estate license out of a Cracker Jacks Box and tell the Sellers whatever convincing song and dance they wanted to hear. And so, there I was, left out in the cold, watching someone else's sign go up in their yard, clinging to my detailed market analysis, the data clearly substantiating the fact that they were listing their house for significantly more than what the market would bear. The weeks and months would go by. Price reduction after price reduction. Finally, the house would sell, and usually at or near the price I had originally suggested.

Even when I provided potential Sellers with excellent information and statistics on the pitfalls of overpricing, the alluring $$$ of the silver-tongued agent overruled my efforts. And once again, the weeks and months went by. Reduction after reduction. And the house finally sold, just below what I had recommended.

Well, it doesn’t usually take me very long to learn or adapt new methods. However, it did require that I was willing to suck in a little pride and ego regarding my very detailed and comprehensive market analysis, regardless of how accurate it may be.

The next time, I shared my analysis with the Sellers and asked for their input. If their number was not the same as my number, I would try to strike a compromise somewhere in between. I would agree to take on the listing with the understanding that if it was not under contract within a certain timeframe, that they would be willing to reduce the price. Moreover, I would still counsel them on the dangers of overpricing.

Fortunately, these days, the majority of my clients come by referral, so there typically are not many objections to my comparative marketing analysis. In a slower market, the importance of accurate market value pricing becomes a much more critical issue. All the more reason when you choose an agent to represent you, not to base your decision solely on how much they tell you they can sell your house for, but ask them “how” they plan to market it effectively, and sell it within a reasonable timeframe.

Rich Jacobson, Your Silverdale WA Real Estate Agent

hismove.com/blog -- Christian Real Estate Network: The CREN Blog has a new URL!

hismove.com/blog -- Christian Real Estate Network: The CREN Blog has a new URL!